Monday Musings–Mental Health

CALL THE NAMI HELPLINE. 800-950-NAMIinfo@nami.org

M-F, 10 AM – 6 PM ET

FIND HELP IN A CRISIS OR TEXT “NAMI” TO 741741

In light of the recent mass shootings and other mass terrorist events, I would like to share with you a primer on mental health. Many, if not all, of the perpetrators are found to have a mental illness. The information I share below is not meant in anyway to be exhaustive. I choose to share information from the National Alliance on Mental Illness, NAMI, because that is the organization I’m familiar with.

Let me also say that I am a firm believer in the Second Amendment. I believe that guns do not kill people, people kill people. But I also do not believe that assault rifles should be available for the general public. These are very personal views that I’m sharing to perhaps start some thinking or conversation.

I’ve shared before that several of my family suffer from alcohol and drug addiction. We also have members of our family who struggle with mental illness. Some are getting help but some are not. Mental illness, especially depression, is also one of the invisible symptoms of multiple sclerosis that I have struggled with.

According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness:

“A mental illness is a condition that affects a person’s thinking, feeling or mood. Such conditions may affect someone’s ability to relate to others and function each day. Each person will have different experiences, even people with the same diagnosis.

“Recovery, including meaningful roles in social life, school and work, is possible, especially when you start treatment early and play a strong role in your own recovery process.

“A mental health condition isn’t the result of one event. Research suggests multiple, linking causes. Genetics, environment and lifestyle influence whether someone develops a mental health condition. A stressful job or home life makes some people more susceptible, as do traumatic life events like being the victim of a crime. Biochemical processes and circuits and basic brain structure may play a role, too.”

“NAMI, the National Alliance on Mental Illness, is the nation’s largest grassroots mental health organization dedicated to building better lives for the millions of Americans affected by mental illness.

“What started as a small group of families gathered around a kitchen table in 1979 has blossomed into the nation’s leading voice on mental health. Today, we are an association of hundreds of local affiliates, state organizations and volunteers who work in your community to raise awareness and provide support and education that was not previously available to those in need.”

On their website, there are many fact sheets that are quick infographics you can look through for quick information. I have inserted one below. I hope you can read it. If not please go to the link.

There is so much fear around this issue, coupled with our healthcare crisis, that it will be a huge undertaking to help ALL people to receive the dignity they so greatly deserve. Do I have the answers? No! But that’s no reason to do nothing. I challenge you to do what you can.

Mark 12:30-32 New King James Version (NKJV)

30 And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’[a] This is the first commandment.[b] 31 And the second, like it, is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’[c] There is no other commandment greater than these.”

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